Why bridging the gap between current guest experience and their expectations holds the key to the travel industry’s success. We live in an era of digital Darwinism, where technology and society are evolving faster than most businesses can keep up. In every industry, customers are changing and as a result, disrupting markets and businesses in the process. They’re becoming more connected, informed, demanding, impatient, elusive and self-centered. As customer behaviours evolve, they disrupt markets and businesses that emphasise scaling and…
Future digital banking trends that apply to almost any consumer-facing business
Each year, my friend Jim Marous assembles some of the industry’s most interesting perspectives on retail banking trends and predictions for the year ahead. I was invited back to share my thoughts (thank you Jim!) Although, looking back, I still stand by my ideas from the previous two years. I wanted to share the highlights from the report and also my contributions to this year’s list of trends/predictions. I also included ideas from previous years to help financial executives see the…
What does the future of CX look like? Here are some of the most promising predictions
What does the future of CX look like? That was the question asked by CMO.com shortly before the new year. The result is an impressive list of predictions offered by some of the brightest minds working to make the future of CX a reality today. This is What the “CX of the Future” Looks Like The entire list is worth your time and study. Here are some of my favorites: “The CX of the future will be a combination of ultra-convenient…
Employees Swipe Right to Personal Tech in the Workplace
The consumerization of IT has been long in the making. While it’s nothing new, the employee-driven trends of social media, BYOD (bring your own device) and BYOA (apps) in the workplace are only accelerating and proliferating. In addition to managing enterprise technology infrastructure and digital transformation roadmaps, IT must now balance the sanctioning and connectivity of new technologies while also managing and mitigating costs, compliance, security and data risks. At the same time, employees will say, and attentive organizations will…
The Purpose of Brand and CX in the Era of Human Experience
It’s time to design experiences you want people to have, remember and share. Customer experience is the new marketing and customer experiences (what they have, feel and share) become the new “BX” (brand experience). More importantly, CX becomes a way of doing business that permeates and reshapes every facet of how and why companies operate. It’s about purpose, vision and meaningful engagement…not corporate mission and vision statements, taglines and creative campaigns. Image courtesy of RantandRave. About Brian Brian Solis is…
The Future of Experience Design
It’s amazing to me how many companies still don’t “see” the customer when it comes to customer experience. While everyone talks about Customer Experience (CX) as the new black, most companies miss the real opportunity to be customer-centric. They don’t actually think about experiences from the perspective of the people they want to reach. Customers are evolving. Business processes and mindsets are not keeping up. As a result, they’re limited in the ability to design experiences that matter to an…
Customer Experience is Defined by the Experience Customer’s Have, Remember and Share
The funny thing about customer experience is that, for all of its good intentions, it is a bit ironic. Many businesses talk about the importance of customer experience (CX). At the same time, many are prioritizing investments in new technologies and touchpoints to improve engagement. But, when asked about their understanding of modern customer behaviors, expectations, preferences and which experiences in their life they love and don’t love…you get crickets. All too often, customer experience doesn’t really start with the…
The Future of Brand, Tech and Business is Experience
If you’ve never attended the Next Conference in Germany, plan for the next event. It combines elements of SXSW in a festival, city-wide format where people, technology, music and art converge into an experience that’s anything but a conference. I’ve had the privilege of presenting at Next over the years. In 2016, I was invited once again (I think for the third time) and I jumped at the chance. Well, actually, I flew to Hamburg, but you know what I…
Breaking the Digital Fourth Wall Through Experiential Storytelling
The fourth wall is the space that separates a performer or performance from an audience. A character, actor, author or storyteller “breaks the fourth wall” when they address the audience directly. As an analyst, author, blogger, podcaster and creator, I am by default, in the content business. Dedicating time to produce my work matters not if no one happens upon it. But once someone discovers my work, it must convincingly pierce the fourth wall between the medium and them to…
It’s not the End of Retail, It’s the End of Retail As We Know It
Retail, like every industry, faces digital Darwinism as technology and markets evolve and disrupt. This isn’t new. But what is clear, executives are not prioritizing bold strategies and investments that save them from their “Kodak Moment,” that moment when consumer behaviors and values evolve beyond brand recognition. If you read about the state of retail today, you’ll see dramatic descriptors such as “apocalypse,” “the end…,” “dying,” you get the picture. While doom and gloom and disruption is inherent in every…
